Kenny Chesney may want to consider adding one more guitar for his next performance. The country singer proved that you can never have too many of the string instruments during a late night appearance on “Conan.”

Performing “American Kids,” the lead single from his latest album, Chesney left some viewers scratching their heads at the rendition, which was backed by not one, two, three or four, but five additional guitar players, including the bass.

Billy Joe Shaver’s new album, “Long in the Tooth” (Lightning Rod Records), comes out Aug. 5. Listen to an exclusive track, “Checkers and Chess,” from the album.

Plus, an astonishing number of artists have covered Billy Joe Shaver’s songs, including Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Krisofferson. Here are four artists who covered Mr. Shaver’s songs and one who recorded a song about him.

Country music star Randy Travis is in critical condition in a Dallas hospital after being admitted yesterday suffering from complications of recently diagnosed viral cardiomyopathy, his representatives said in a statement.

The office of his publicist, Kirt Webster, said it had no additional information on Travis’ condition. The 54-year-old Grammy Award-winning singer is known for such songs as “Three Wooden Crosses” and “Deeper Than the Holler.” Read More »

The success of coach Blake Shelton’s singers on “The Voice” has the other squads looking to go country.

Team Blake’s singers have been dominating the show, making up three of the final six acts. Four of seven if you count the Swon Brothers twice.

On last night’s show, following Shelton’s lead, most of the songs that were performed were either country-tinged or straight-up country. The coaches and singers pretty much did everything to cater to country fans but wear cowboy hats and boots. And they may do that tonight. Read More »

The Academy of Country Music Awards were held on Sunday night, and Miranda Lambert was the winningest winner of the night. The singer-songwriter took home four trophies, including songwriter of the year and female vocalist of the year. Co-host Luke Bryan was honored as the entertainer of the year. Other winners include Eric Church and Jason Aldean.

Read a complete list of winners at the ACMs 2013 after the jump. Read More »

Country stars Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have a new album out called “Old Yellow Moon” and they stopped by the WSJ Cafe to play a couple songs off the new release. Harris and Crowell were both in good voice and in good moods. When asked if the Journal could tweet a few photos from their soundcheck, Harris called out “Tweet away!” and the pair began crooning “Tweet Dreams” to the tune of Don Gibson’s “Sweet Dreams (of You).” Later, after performing another number, Harris laughed “Let’s do it again. I could do that song all day.” And, happily for everyone in the studio, we got an encore.

Check back in with Speakeasy to hear the performances and watch the WSJ’s John Jurgensen interview Harris and Crowell. Read More »

On Sunday, country star Mindy McCready was found dead on the front porch of a home in Heber Springs, Ark.. Police said she died of “what appears to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.” The 37-year-old singer, who was sometimes referred to as country music’s Amy Winehouse, had a troubled history of legal and personal difficulties and leaves behind two children.

Read what the Twitter accounts of some fellow country stars have tweeted about McCready’s passing after the jump. Read More »

Taylor Swift’s “Red” album has already dominated music charts, with a record-shattering (no-pun intended) $1.2 million in album sales last week. The country-music star may also top the Country Music Association Awards tonight.

Fans will find out by tuning into the 46th annual awards show which will broadcast live on ABC from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley will make their fifth consecutive stint as hosts and the pair are also nominated for Entertainer of the Year and Female Vocalist awards, respectively. Read More »

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.